Classic Rock Music News

Rapper Kanye West seem to have scored the ultimate guest artist for his next album. According to Page Six, West has recruited none other than Sir Paul McCartney to make an appearance on his next album.

The publication report that McCartney might be working on several songs together with West. Macca has previously expressed interest in working with either West or Jay Z, and it now seems as if at least one of those collaborations is set to happen.

McCartney recently had the honor of being the last artist to play San Francisco's famed Candlestick Park before the venue is demolished. Macca was the perfect choice for the event, since the stadium was the place for the Beatles' last concert way back in 1966.

The Ice Bucket Challenge is all the rage these days. Aside from providing amusement from seeing one of your friends or perhaps a celebrity being doused in ice water, the purpose of the stunt is to promote awareness and raise money for ALS research.
Now the challenge might actually produce a welcome side effect - helping to restore the working relationship between two of rock's biggest icons - Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. Jon recently took the Ice Bucket Challenge, as you can see in the video below. The participant in the challenge is called to nominate three new participants, and Jon decided to challenge Bon Jovi bandmates Tico Torres, David Bryan, and also estranged guitarist Sambora.
Whether Richie will take the Ice Bucket Challenge remains to be seen, but if anything it might be the crucial first step towards repairing Jon and Richie's working relationship, and bring the guitarist back to the band. Sambora left the group abruptly early last year at the start of the band's latest world tour in support of the album What About Now.

Aerosmith have resumed their US tour with Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, after drummer Joey Kramer was taken ill last week.

The band cancelled its Let Rock Rule Tour stop at Concord Pavilion in Concord, California so Kramer could undergo a minor medical procedure. Reports had suggested that Kramer had suffered from heart complications but the band released a statement saying that he had no history of a heart condition. “I’m feeling better than ever and I'll be back sitting in the best seat in the house, hitting it harder than ever for our amazing fans,” Kramer said. “My gratitude and thanks for all the love and support showered on me during this time. Feelin’ good feelin’ groovy feelin’ great!!! Nothin’ keeps the Kramedog down.”

It’s likely there will be no more Cream reunions, says bassist Jack Bruce. Speaking recently to M Music & Musicians, the rock veteran said, “I’m only in irregular contact with Eric [Clapton], but I know we have mutual respect for each other’s work. I don’t believe there will be further Cream reunions. However, I never thought the first one would happen, so there you go.”

Bruce, whose new album, Silver Rails, marks his first solo record in a decade, also talked about writing the Cream epic “Sunshine of Your Love” “One night I was working with my lyricist and friend Pete Brown, and we just hadn’t come up with anything good,” Bruce said. “Suddenly I picked up my double bass and played the ‘Sunshine of Your Love’ riff. Pete looked out the window at the glow in the sky and wrote, ‘It’s getting near dawn.’ I took the riff, melody and lyrics to a band rehearsal and Eric wrote the turnaround chords and we had a song.”

Paul McCartney has announced that he will be releasing remastered versions of the Wings albums Venus and Mars and Wings At The Speed of Sound, on September 22 in the UK, and the following day in the US. The albums are part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection that have previously reissued Band on the Run, McCartney, McCartney II, RAM and Wings over America.

The albums will be available in two formats: A two-disc Standard Edition with the original album, and bonus audio, as well as a three-disc Deluxe Edition that will also contain a DVD with bonus material, and a book with unpublished photographs.

The Led Zeppelin reissue campaign that began in June will continue this fall with the release of Deluxe Editions of 1971’s Led Zeppelin IV and 1973’s Houses of the Holy. As with the previous reissues, both albums have been newly remastered by Jimmy Page and are accompanied by companion discs comprised of unreleased music associated with the original studio album. Each release will also be available as a single CD, a single 180-gram vinyl LP, a “Deluxe Edition” 180-gram double LP, a digital download and a “Super Deluxe” box set. Led Zeppelin IV—which includes such classics as “Black Dog,” “Rock and Roll” and “Stairway to Heaven”—is widely considered one of the most influential albums in rock history. Its follow-up, Houses of the Holy, broadened the group’s stylistic range with such tracks as the reggae-tinged “D’yer Mak’er” and the funk jam, “The Crunge.” Both reissues will be released in their various formats on October 28. Below are the tracks featured on the companion audio discs:

Fleetwood Mac frontwoman Stevie Nicks will be releasing a new solo album, her eighth, on October 7. The album, which will be called 24 Karat Gold - Songs from the Vault, is made up of new recordings of previously unreleased material.

"Most of these songs were written between 1969 and 1987,” said Nicks in a press release. “One was written in 1994 and one in 1995. I included them because they seemed to belong to this special group. Each song is a lifetime. Each song has a soul. Each song has a purpose. Each song is a love story…They represent my life behind the scenes, the secrets, the broken hearts, the broken hearted and the survivors. These songs are the memories - the 24 karat gold rings in the blue box. These songs are for you.”

The album, which Nicks co-produced with Dave Stewart and Waddy Wachtel, will come with Polaroids that the singer has taken during her career. 24 Karat Gold - Songs from the Vault will be released on vinyl on September 29, one week prior to the CD release.